Division II Gymnast Melanie Coleman Dies After Suffering Spinal Cord Injury

Featured ColumnistNovember 12, 2019

A gymnast warms up at the start of the second and last day of the apparatus finals of the Gymnastics World Championships at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Nov. 3, 2018. Logistically, Qatar pulled off the 2018 world gymnastics championships largely without a hitch, yet the majority of the 10-day event was played in front of sparse crowds at the Aspire Dome, not exactly a ringing endorsement of Qatar's ability to attract foreigners or the locals with the 2019 world track championships and the 2022 World Cup on the way. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Vadim Ghirda/Associated Press

Melanie Coleman, a gymnast at Southern Connecticut State, died Sunday due to an injury she suffered during training on Nov. 8.

"At this time, our thoughts and prayers are with Melanie's family," athletic director Jay Moran said in an official statement. "This has been devastating to her coaches and teammates and we hope to support them in this very difficult time. Melanie was a very bright student, an excellent athlete and involved member of the Southern Connecticut community. The entire Southern athletics family is greatly saddened by her loss."

The Hartford Courant's Daniela Altimari and Josh Kovner reported Coleman was practicing at an off-campus facility and slipped from the uneven bars. Patrick Dilger, a spokesman for the university, said her cause of death remained unknown, with USA Today's Scott Gleeson reporting she had a "serious spinal cord injury."

Coleman was in her junior year with the Owls.

A native of Milford, Connecticut, she was an all-state gymnast at Jonathan Law High School before following her sister, Tiffany, to Southern Connecticut State.